The crude nature of datasheet directories’ design precludes the use of glossy creative treatments. But there are still important issues for advertisers to consider.

Republished from TKO's IP Club

Datasheet directories such as www.datasheetdir.com are attracting impressive amounts of online traffic. So how should electronics marketing professionals get their message across to the engineers visiting these sites?

As a general rule, Google takes the lion’s share of search traffic. Advertising via Google’s familiar AdWords scheme involves bidding against chosen keywords for a position on the Google search results page. In fact, Google already channels large amounts of search traffic to datasheet directory sites. SupplyFrame Media states that around half of the traffic on its directory sites comes from search engines such as Google, Yahoo! and Bing.

This means, therefore, that advertisers who rely solely on search-engine advertising will miss around half of the traffic on the directory sites, because once engineers have found the sites, they bookmark them and subsequently go to them directly rather than via a search engine.

So SupplyFrame Media has devised a standardised advertising format that advertisers can use to publish their message to users of the directory sites (see Figure 1). A SupplyFrame Media advertisement has the potential to reach all visitors to a given page on a directory site – not just those who arrive there via a search engine.

The standard format is very simple graphically: a large, plain, static text box. No video, no animation, small logos, no pictures – but SupplyFrame Media claims high average click-through rates of 2.5%. Key to their success is the inclusion of a relevant call to action, such as a link to a development board offer.

This advertising style is in tune with the medium. Site users are engaged in a focussed, information-rich, rational activity: searching for factual information about a specific component type. The standard ad format reflects this, being factual and action-oriented. Indeed, from a creative point of view, this format is best thought of as an enlarged version of a Google AdWords ad.

Key points for advertisers

Advertisers using datasheet directories should remember the audience they are reaching, and devise campaigns that fit the audience. Users of datasheet directories are in active component-evaluation and component-research mode. They are generally engaged in a design project at the time they search on the directory.

They therefore want relevant information and tools that will help them evaluate and use components.

Your advertising messages should therefore promote the boards, tools, kits, applications, downloads and so on that you can offer to help design engineers try out and use your component. Directories are not the place for a thought-provoking reimagination of your brand. Instead, simply show the site user how your products or engineering resources can help them build a cheaper, simpler, faster, more reliable or more powerful product.

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